Invitational Challenge Again Suits Hernandez : Cross-country: Moorpark College freshman wins Johnie O meet for his fourth invitation victory of the season.

Eleazar Hernandez of Moorpark College has been beaten in the first two Western State Conference cross-country meets of the season, but he’s on a roll when it comes to invitationals.

The freshman from Camarillo High won his third consecutive invitational--and his fourth of the season--Saturday in the Johnie O meet at Fairview Regional Park.

Hernandez timed 19 minutes 31 seconds over the four-mile course to pace Moorpark to a 10th-place finish in the team standings with 301 points.

Rancho Santiago edged previously undefeated Glendale, 73-80, for the team title with El Camino third at 149.

The top eight men’s and women’s teams automatically qualified for the State championships in Fresno on Nov. 18. The ninth- through 14th-place finishers also have a good chance of advancing, depending on the outcome of next month’s five conference championship meets in Southern California.

A cold slowed Hernandez to a ninth-place finish in the Golden Coast Invitational at Fairview Park on Sept. 23, but he slashed 63 seconds from that time Saturday.

Wearing one of his trademark bandannas--this one black to match Moorpark’s uniforms--Hernandez was among the leaders at the one-mile mark (4:52). He and Riverside’s Bashir Hussain led the field through two miles in 9:56, then broke away from their pursuers a half-mile later.

They ran together until shortly after the three-mile mark when Hernandez forced the pace approaching the final hill on the course. “I sort of pushed it and he got tired and let go,” Hernandez said. “I felt good today.”

Hernandez shrugged when asked to explain his success in invitationals compared to the WSC meets.

“I guess I get more excited for these,” he said. “There’s more people and more noise and I get a little more nervous.”

Glendale’s Ramon Serratos, winner of both WSC meets, placed third Saturday in 19:45, but Hernandez downplayed any talk of avenging those defeats.

“It was OK that he beat me,” he said. “He ran better than me.”

Serratos, Jose Padilla (eighth in 20:08) and Eduardo Macias (10th in 20:16) gave Glendale a potent 1-2-3 punch, but Rancho Santiago had better depth. While Jose Arias (20:46) and Eric Seoane (21:06) rounded out Glendale’s scoring in 22nd and 37th, Rancho Santiago’s No. 5 runner placed 25th.

“I don’t want to put any pressure on anyone, but we just didn’t have the fifth man today,” Glendale Coach Eddie Lopez said. “Again, it came down to the last mile, but they ran better than us.”

Glendale outran Rancho Santiago over the final mile of the Santa Barbara Invitational on Oct. 14 to post a 43-46 victory, but their fifth man faded from 25th to 37th in the last mile and a half Saturday.

“The state meet is going to be the rubber match,” Lopez said. “I expect it to come down to us and them again, and I expect it to be close.”

Josefina Sanchez of Ventura and Moorpark were the top local finishers in the women’s meet.

Sanchez, the defending WSC champion, placed 11th with a time of 19:57 over the 5,000-meter course and Moorpark finished fourth in the team standings with 197 points.

Mt. San Antonio placed five runners among the first 17 finishers to win the team title with 65 points. The Mounties were followed by defending state champion San Diego Mesa (72) and Pasadena City (130).

Bridget Roy paced Moorpark with a 13th-place time of 20:08 and the Raiders also received top-40 finishes from Christine Wiegert (32nd in 20:52), Niki Kennerley (34th in 21:03) and Vickie Greene (40th in 21:11).